diff --git a/build/build-image/Dockerfile b/build/build-image/Dockerfile
index 2adbd5ae1c5..60cd464ed9c 100644
--- a/build/build-image/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/build-image/Dockerfile
@@ -18,7 +18,14 @@ FROM gcr.io/google_containers/kube-cross:KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE_CROSS_TAG
 # Mark this as a kube-build container
 RUN touch /kube-build-image
 
-WORKDIR /go/src/k8s.io/kubernetes
+# TO run as non-root we sometimes need to rebuild go stdlib packages.
+RUN chmod -R a+rwx /usr/local/go/pkg
+
+# The kubernetes source is expected to be mounted here.  This will be the base
+# of operations.
+ENV HOME /go/src/k8s.io/kubernetes
+WORKDIR ${HOME}
+RUN chmod -R a+rwx ${HOME}
 
 # Propagate the git tree version into the build image
 ADD kube-version-defs /kube-version-defs
diff --git a/build/common.sh b/build/common.sh
index 864c9cd129f..9f9c3e58f74 100755
--- a/build/common.sh
+++ b/build/common.sh
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ readonly KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE_CROSS_TAG="v1.6.2-2"
 readonly LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT="${KUBE_ROOT}/${OUT_DIR:-_output}"
 readonly LOCAL_OUTPUT_SUBPATH="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/dockerized"
 readonly LOCAL_OUTPUT_BINPATH="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_SUBPATH}/bin"
+readonly LOCAL_OUTPUT_GOPATH="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_SUBPATH}/go"
 readonly LOCAL_OUTPUT_IMAGE_STAGING="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/images"
 
 readonly OUTPUT_BINPATH="${CUSTOM_OUTPUT_BINPATH:-$LOCAL_OUTPUT_BINPATH}"
@@ -68,18 +69,13 @@ readonly OUTPUT_BINPATH="${CUSTOM_OUTPUT_BINPATH:-$LOCAL_OUTPUT_BINPATH}"
 readonly REMOTE_OUTPUT_ROOT="/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/_output"
 readonly REMOTE_OUTPUT_SUBPATH="${REMOTE_OUTPUT_ROOT}/dockerized"
 readonly REMOTE_OUTPUT_BINPATH="${REMOTE_OUTPUT_SUBPATH}/bin"
+readonly REMOTE_OUTPUT_GOPATH="${REMOTE_OUTPUT_SUBPATH}/go"
 
 readonly DOCKER_MOUNT_ARGS_BASE=(
   --volume "${OUTPUT_BINPATH}:${REMOTE_OUTPUT_BINPATH}"
   --volume /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
 )
 
-# We create a Docker data container to cache incremental build artifacts.
-readonly REMOTE_OUTPUT_GOPATH="${REMOTE_OUTPUT_SUBPATH}/go"
-readonly DOCKER_DATA_MOUNT_ARGS=(
-  --volume "${REMOTE_OUTPUT_GOPATH}"
-)
-
 # This is where the final release artifacts are created locally
 readonly RELEASE_STAGE="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/release-stage"
 readonly RELEASE_DIR="${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}/release-tars"
@@ -313,11 +309,11 @@ function kube::build::clean_output() {
       kube::log::error "Build image not built.  Cannot clean via docker build image."
     fi
 
-    kube::log::status "Removing data container"
+    kube::log::status "Removing data container ${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}"
     "${DOCKER[@]}" rm -v "${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
   fi
 
-  kube::log::status "Cleaning out local _output directory"
+  kube::log::status "Removing _output directory"
   rm -rf "${LOCAL_OUTPUT_ROOT}"
 }
 
@@ -525,7 +521,7 @@ function kube::build::docker_build() {
   local -r pull="${3:-true}"
   local -ra build_cmd=("${DOCKER[@]}" build -t "${image}" "--pull=${pull}" "${context_dir}")
 
-  kube::log::status "Building Docker image ${image}."
+  kube::log::status "Building Docker image ${image}"
   local docker_output
   docker_output=$("${build_cmd[@]}" 2>&1) || {
     cat <<EOF >&2
@@ -559,14 +555,31 @@ function kube::build::clean_images() {
 }
 
 function kube::build::ensure_data_container() {
-  if ! "${DOCKER[@]}" inspect "${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    kube::log::status "Creating data container"
+  # If the data container exists AND exited successfully, we can use it.
+  # Otherwise nuke it and start over.
+  local ret=0
+  local code=$(docker inspect \
+      -f '{{.State.ExitCode}}' \
+      "${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}" 2>/dev/null || ret=$?)
+  if [[ "${ret}" == 0 && "${code}" != 0 ]]; then
+    kube::build::destroy_container "${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}"
+    ret=1
+  fi
+  if [[ "${ret}" != 0 ]]; then
+    kube::log::status "Creating data container ${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}"
+    # We have to ensure the directory exists, or else the docker run will
+    # create it as root.
+    mkdir -p "${LOCAL_OUTPUT_GOPATH}"
+    # We want this to run as root to be able to chown, so non-root users can
+    # later use the result as a data container.  This run both creates the data
+    # container and chowns the GOPATH.
     local -ra docker_cmd=(
       "${DOCKER[@]}" run
-      "${DOCKER_DATA_MOUNT_ARGS[@]}"
+      --volume "${REMOTE_OUTPUT_GOPATH}"
       --name "${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}"
+      --hostname "${HOSTNAME}"
       "${KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE}"
-      true
+      chown -R $(id -u).$(id -g) "${REMOTE_OUTPUT_GOPATH}"
     )
     "${docker_cmd[@]}"
   fi
@@ -583,6 +596,8 @@ function kube::build::run_build_command() {
 
   local -a docker_run_opts=(
     "--name=${KUBE_BUILD_CONTAINER_NAME}"
+    "--user=$(id -u):$(id -g)"
+    "--hostname=${HOSTNAME}"
     "${DOCKER_MOUNT_ARGS[@]}"
   )
 
@@ -635,9 +650,10 @@ function kube::build::copy_output() {
     # Bug: https://github.com/docker/docker/pull/8509
     local -a docker_run_opts=(
       "--name=${KUBE_BUILD_CONTAINER_NAME}"
-       "${DOCKER_MOUNT_ARGS[@]}"
-       -d
-      )
+      "--user=$(id -u):$(id -g)"
+      "${DOCKER_MOUNT_ARGS[@]}"
+      -d
+    )
 
     local -ra docker_cmd=(
       "${DOCKER[@]}" run "${docker_run_opts[@]}" "${KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE}"
diff --git a/hack/update-generated-protobuf-dockerized.sh b/hack/update-generated-protobuf-dockerized.sh
index fa9294cd54d..447bf271462 100755
--- a/hack/update-generated-protobuf-dockerized.sh
+++ b/hack/update-generated-protobuf-dockerized.sh
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
 
 kube::golang::setup_env
 
-hack/build-go.sh cmd/libs/go2idl/go-to-protobuf cmd/libs/go2idl/go-to-protobuf/protoc-gen-gogo
+hack/build-go.sh \
+    cmd/libs/go2idl/go-to-protobuf \
+    cmd/libs/go2idl/go-to-protobuf/protoc-gen-gogo
 
 if [[ -z "$(which protoc)" || "$(protoc --version)" != "libprotoc 3.0."* ]]; then
   echo "Generating protobuf requires protoc 3.0.0-beta1 or newer. Please download and"
@@ -39,7 +41,8 @@ gotoprotobuf=$(kube::util::find-binary "go-to-protobuf")
 
 # requires the 'proto' tag to build (will remove when ready)
 # searches for the protoc-gen-gogo extension in the output directory
-# satisfies import of github.com/gogo/protobuf/gogoproto/gogo.proto and the core Google protobuf types
+# satisfies import of github.com/gogo/protobuf/gogoproto/gogo.proto and the
+# core Google protobuf types
 PATH="${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/go/bin:${PATH}" \
   "${gotoprotobuf}" \
   --proto-import="${KUBE_ROOT}/vendor" \
diff --git a/hack/update-generated-protobuf.sh b/hack/update-generated-protobuf.sh
index 9686cec9746..01080bb376a 100755
--- a/hack/update-generated-protobuf.sh
+++ b/hack/update-generated-protobuf.sh
@@ -31,19 +31,13 @@ function prereqs() {
   fi
   kube::build::ensure_docker_daemon_connectivity || return 1
 
-  KUBE_ROOT_HASH=$(kube::build::short_hash "${HOSTNAME:-}:${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/go-to-protobuf")
+  KUBE_ROOT_HASH=$(kube::build::short_hash "${HOSTNAME:-}:${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}")
   KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE_TAG="build-${KUBE_ROOT_HASH}"
   KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE="${KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE_REPO}:${KUBE_BUILD_IMAGE_TAG}"
   KUBE_BUILD_CONTAINER_NAME="kube-build-${KUBE_ROOT_HASH}"
   KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME="kube-build-data-${KUBE_ROOT_HASH}"
   DOCKER_MOUNT_ARGS=(
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/cluster:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/cluster"
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/cmd:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/cmd"
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/vendor:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/vendor"
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/hack:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/hack"
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/pkg:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/pkg"
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/federation:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/federation"
-    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}/third_party:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}/third_party"
+    --volume "${REPO_DIR:-${KUBE_ROOT}}:/go/src/${KUBE_GO_PACKAGE}"
     --volume /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
     --volumes-from "${KUBE_BUILD_DATA_CONTAINER_NAME}"
   )
diff --git a/hack/verify-generated-protobuf.sh b/hack/verify-generated-protobuf.sh
index c76ee2956db..5cc3af125c2 100755
--- a/hack/verify-generated-protobuf.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-generated-protobuf.sh
@@ -38,20 +38,13 @@ for APIROOT in ${APIROOTS}; do
   cp -a "${KUBE_ROOT}/${APIROOT}" "${_tmp}/${APIROOT}"
 done
 
-# If not running as root, we need to use sudo to restore the original generated
-# protobuf files.
-SUDO=""
-if [[ "$(id -u)" != '0' ]]; then
-  SUDO="sudo"
-fi
-
 "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/update-generated-protobuf.sh"
 for APIROOT in ${APIROOTS}; do
   TMP_APIROOT="${_tmp}/${APIROOT}"
   echo "diffing ${APIROOT} against freshly generated protobuf"
   ret=0
   diff -Naupr -I 'Auto generated by' "${KUBE_ROOT}/${APIROOT}" "${TMP_APIROOT}" || ret=$?
-  ${SUDO} cp -a "${TMP_APIROOT}" "${KUBE_ROOT}/${APIROOT%/*}"
+  cp -a "${TMP_APIROOT}" "${KUBE_ROOT}/${APIROOT%/*}"
   if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
     echo "${APIROOT} up to date."
   else